Getting your dream job: Techniques, strategies

Welcome to another Monday and another series in our self-made avowal to empower individuals to get their dream job in the shortest possible time. The inspiration came from Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and feedback from numerous readers of The Nation.

You’ve got that great résumé in hand and you are rearing to get on and be on your mother of all searches: to find a job! But wait, it takes much more than having just a résumé and bristling energy to have a successful job search. You need a search game plan.

The job hunter or career changer can find job hunting to be a frustrating experience. Fact is, it’s a job finding a job! There are no set of rules for job hunting; no magic formulas or solutions. However, by utilising all the options available to us, we can make the job search more efficient and be successful in the shortest possible time.

A successful job search starts with thorough preparation and planning. This is true whether you are beginning your career, seeking re-employment or considering a more satisfying occupation. First assess your characteristics; take a good look at who you are and what you have done.

This will require time and effort, but the time you invest will be worthwhile. Self-assessment can help you to decide on a realistic job objective. The information you discover will also be helpful when writing your resume, completing job applications and preparing for job interviews.

In exploring career options the questions are:

Do I want to remain in that field?

• Would the strengths I have serve in a related field of work?

• Would I consider returning to school to learn new job skills which are in demand?

• As a recent college graduate, could I translate my strengths into a career?

• Is self-employment a possibility?

• In answering these questions, carefully consider personal circumstances, your lifestyle, health, family circumstances and financial needs. Keep these factors in mind when making career plans.

• Considering everything you know about yourself, try to think of some career possibilities that you could do well arid would enjoy.

Organisation is key

Staying organised in the hunt is imperative. It is extremely important to be organised. Maintain a notebook with contact sheets for recording names and information relative to your efforts. Keep copies of all job leads or ads that you respond to. Maintain a calendar or weekly plan of action for your job hunt and record and review the number of contacts made each week.

As stated earlier, it is job looking a job! If you are experiencing a career transition, staying in the routine of a job hunt is difficult. Remember, you are marketing yourself daily. Begin each day with the attitude that you are “open for business.’ Follow the plan you established for yourself and keep with it until you’ve reached your goal. Don’t unwittingly extend your job search time by limiting the techniques you use. There are several techniques and strategies for effective job fishing. We shall proceed to look at them.

Networking

Networking is a key process in job seeking, job keeping, and position advancement, in the future it will be necessary to give greater attention to this process as competition for good jobs becomes keener and advancement opportunities become fewer. More and more, individuals must learn to develop and use networks of contacts if they are to best achieve their goals and career potential.

Networking in a nutshell, is nothing more than asking the people you already know to help you find out about the job market and meet the people who are actually doing the hiring.

The hard facts “Informal contacts account for almost 75 per cent of all successful job searches. Agencies find about nine per cent of new jobs for professional and technical people, and ads yield another 10 per cent or so.

Don’t hesitate to talk to friends, acquaintances, and neighbours about your job search in reality, you are asking for advice, not charity. Most of the people you contact will be willing to help you, if only you will tell them how. You probably know more people than you think. The key to making progress is to start asking the right people for the right kind of assistance.

The ultimate object of your job search is to convince the person who has the power to hire you that you ought to be working for him or her. The one you want to talk to is not necessarily the president of a company; it is rather the one who heads the department that could use your expertise.

Direct contact with the hiring authority is far and away the most effective job-hunting method. Your strategy and schedule should reflect that fact, and most of your energy should be devoted to direct contact. You may want to explore other methods of contacting potential employers, but that should take up no more than a quarter of your job – hunting time.

How do you find the hiring authority? If you are lucky, someone you know periodically will tell you whom to see and introduce you. Otherwise, you will have to do some homework. If you cannot find out who heads the department that interests you, call the company and ask the operator.

Do not assume you can get to the hiring authority through the personnel depart-ment. If at all possible, you will avoid filling out ally personnel forms until you have had a serious interview. The same goes for sending resumes. In general, resumes are better left behind after an interview than sent ahead to generate a meeting.

The informational interview

The contacts you make during your preliminary informational interviewing will be the core of your network in your job hunt. You will also want to zero in on other contacts within your career area. Your goal is to get referred to the person who has the power to hire you.